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How Do You Solve A Problem Like Suso?

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Suso of Liverpool and SpainWELL, quite easily really. The young Spaniard has been played on the left of the front trio and on the right, more often, yet neither of these are his best position. With Rodgers’ plan A there is a growing feeling he is getting it right, but against Aston Villa we saw that there are times when it needs tweaking.

Enter Suso.

Suso should be played as closely to Suarez or Sturridge as possible, as the games where we are playing against teams that just defend he is one of the few players that can make that difference. A ‘no look’ pass, beating a man in close proximity, Suso is not blessed with electric pace but he has that way of playing that this generation of young Spaniards are all blessed with.

It’s a mixture of guile and agility that gives the player with the ball the confidence and frame of mind to just go past his man with the simplest of ease.

Suso has this in abundance, which makes him so dangerous to play against. In the blink of an eye he is past his man through fleet of foot, showing great skill and trickery to embarrass his marker.

Suso, along with Jonjo Shelvey, has been played “out of position” quite a fair bit this season, and has still looked good. Although of late he has been subbed a fair bit, which may affect his confidence, but he won’t let it show in his playing style. The ideal scenario would be one of a front three of Sterling, Suarez and Sturridge with Lucas, Suso/Shelvey and Gerrard/Henderson behind them. Suso pushing up to support the front three as much as possible to really get the best out of him and others around him.

In the Spaniard, recently capped for his national teams under 21 side, we have a player that can play here for years to come and with a manager that has no problem trusting youth then the future is bright for the youngster. Real Madrid and Barcelona are already putting out the feelers for him, but the level headed kid from Cadiz has only recently signed a long-term deal with the Reds, keeping him at Anfield to help him flourish beyond his teen years to become a mainstay in the first team.

Player comparisons are sometimes misleading, but if you were to compare Suso to anyone it would be David Silva; someone who has become so pivotal to the way reigning champions Manchester City, play. Suso needs to add goals to his game, as he has a few assists to his name already, but the composure in front of goal will come with more game time and age. There is an ever growing feeling on the Kop that when Suso scores, he will explode, such is his desire to make it at Liverpool.

Credit must go to Rodgers for having the guts to play the likes of Suso, Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and others so frequently, but it is also a damning realisation of how poorly we have spent on so called senior members of the squad – which is an entirely different topic altogether. One thing we can all agree on is that Suso will be an Anfield regular for years to come.

Follow me on twitter @Jolly_Conductor for more Liverpool related stories and developments.
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44 comments

  • Tommo says:

    Playin him in his proper position might help ,but i dont suppose Rodgers has thought of that one

    • Chan says:

      You mean BR ACTUALLY thinks about his actions?

      If he does, we would not have the mess that is called Joe Allen. Allen actually makes players like Poulsen (Remember him?)looks like Zidane. Yet BR says we got a bargain for 15 mill.

      If BR actually is capable of thinking, he would not waste his time on Sahin, a ggod player which BR can’t get the best off.

      Some had said on this site that BR is great at man management. Funny he could not get the best out of talents such as Suso, Shelvey, Sahin, Coates, etc.

      We could moave to tactics and strategies but i guess we could all see how capable BR is at thinking about those from games against Villa, Stoke, Manure just to name a few.

      • simon says:

        Rodgers should be made pay back the 15m for Allen himself , such wasted money . plus the 17m for assaidi ,borini and sahin

  • Nizzle says:

    Suso for me looks more like a player who would be able maintain his playing level for a long time than Sterling, no doubt more playing time would improve his game but inexperience might be the stumbling block. Shuffling him with the others right now looks ideal, by the time he’s about 20-21, he’d have have enough experience to make him a force in the EPL. However, LFC desperately needs a playmaker, a Silva-Cazorla-type of player, and if the news that Sneijder could sign for us, it would be a major boost, someone whou young Suso can get that extra bit of experience from.

    • sammy says:

      Agree with what you’ve said there, if we could pull of the sneijder signing, we should loan Suso out to a prem club for the rest of the season, at least he’ll be able to play in his natural pos.

    • Red Dawn says:

      Liverpool have a playmaker , his name is Steven Gerrard but the dopey fool wont play him in his best position

      • Jimmy Areabi (Editor) says:

        Whilst Gerrard enjoyed time behind a single striker, he isn’t a natural playmaker in a true no.10 sense – never has been. The team requires a specialist in this position, and I agree that Suso seems to have all the tools to make this role his own.

        • Red Dawn says:

          What you say is true , however in his time as second striker ,Gerrard was fantastic , in one season i think scored 21 goals , so in the absence of a top quality number 10 , dont you think its mis-management by Rodgers NOT using him there now ?
          Gerrard is clearly wasted in the deeper role , and Allen and Henderson are worse than useless from an attacking perspective

  • bazza says:

    He was 19 Nov-2012

  • sammy says:

    Sturridge
    Suarez Suso Borini

    ^^ That attack aint half bad, imo Suso would thrive if he played in his natural position in the first team, in front of the likes of gerrard and lucas and next to Suarez, should give it a try.

  • Kris says:

    Here here – Suso is the player I am most excited about at Liverpool – he has really clear hallmarks of quality and class – great vision, control, range of passing, and maturity. I know he can shoot and get goals too, but that will come with a bit of time and confidence.

    My main fear is that if Liverpool don’t continue to improve, then we’ll struggle to keep hold of him. If this is the case, I hope there’s a mighty release clause in his contract!

    • Chan says:

      Kris,the definition of “improve” could be very different, as we had found out.

      For us the “Real fans” it means playing the “Liverpool Way” (some try to repackaged it and says the “Swansea Way” or Tiki-Taka but LFC had been doing it for decades. This someone most certainly is part of the PR team of a certain young but inexperience and extremely idiotic football manager wannabe. Can you guess who?), moving up along the league table (not winning the league or even finishing 4th just moving up) and challenging and regain the fear factor from other teams that were once the hall mark of LFC.

      BR it seems can declare that we had “improve” eventhough we had our worst league start since 1954, lost or drawn games that we are supposed to win or opponents even those in free fall such as Villa no longer fear us (as the matter of fact would like to play us every week) and our greatest rivals like Manure no longer, well deemed us as their real competitive rival (by the way BR’s record against SAF is 4 loss out of 4). Oh we are firmly stuck in mid table midicority with even Everton our cross town rival with much less resources firmly above. All these but BR would happily tells you we had improved.

      For FSG it seems we are improving too as we are no longer in debt (funny how they always want to comapred us with the H&G era but not before such as the 70’s and 80’s). So just because we are not in debt, we could all pop the bubly as we should just be happy to exist, never mind LFC’s great competitive history, our winning DNA, or whether we can’t even pay 6 mill for a proven albeit slightly aging striker back in Aug.

      Funny how some says our great rival (this term should be use loosely this days) Manure had gone backwards as they are hundreds of millions in debt, we are lucky we are not like them. Well, in those time they had won their 19th title (finally knocks us off our perch), a CL and paid 24 mill for a prolific but aging 29 year old striker (you know excactly the type that FSG would not touch with a barge pole) that would most likely fires them to their 20th title. And we say their fellow Americans at Manure is so, so bad.

      You see Kris, with the definition of “improve” so diffrent between BR, his band of PR boys (paid and unpaid, masquerading as fans), FSG and us, the real LFC fans, be prepared to see us going nowhere for a while.

  • segun says:

    He is just the messi we wanted,play him in the right position and get the result or better still a messi out of him. Sneijder will be a great addition 2 d team.

  • Ozred says:

    The reality is that his best position is the same as five of our other regulars.

    In a perfect world we’d have quality wingers who can actually score and assist with frequency but we don’t.

    Ideally, we’d be at a level where suso was far enough down the order that we put him out on loan to do his apprenticeship and look to bring him in in 12 to 18 months time as someone far more advanced in experience and having ironed out a few of the chinks on his game.

  • Jimmy Areabi (Editor) says:

    I asked the question to Rodgers directly, if we needed a proper playmaker (which I’ve argued for years, we do) to which he replied ‘absolutely’, seeing it as essential. He also mentioned that he sees it as a priority to solve ‘in the summer’. I then asked if he foresees Suso in this role, which he stated he does…but not until he develops further.
    I am questioning his reluctance to try him in the role now, consistently, especially instead of Jonjo who was used there earlier in the season. To me, any opportunity he has to give Suso a run in that role, he should take. I don’t see any logic in giving him match time out wide in a front three.

    • Chan says:

      Jimmy, you should not take too seriously the words of a man that just before the MU game said ” We should be brave going into this game” and then promptly left DS on the bench.

      • Jimmy Areabi (Editor) says:

        As opposed to taking someone seriously who only comes on to leave negative comments about the club he is supposed to ‘support’? You have your own opinions Chan, which is fine – it would just be nice to see you around whenever something positive occurs at our club too – not everything has to be turned into a ‘the manager is a fool’ tirade (something that you perpetuated for the whole of last season under a different manager too).

        • Chan says:

          Jimmy, i know just like most of us, you are trying to support the club but could seriuosly says that after Rafa, all the follwing managers had conducted themselves befitting of a Liverpool manager and acted in the best interest of the club?

          I had been a fan since the 80’s and know what is like to win and lose but i never had to condemm any of pur past managers.

          Critizising our manager does not mean we are less of a fan, in fact just the opposite. Imagine if we just had remain quiet and tries to be “positive” during the RH era?

          We are trying very hard to be positive but BR works doubly hard to make us unable to do. Take your pick, from his tranfer decisions to tactical decisions, to his contant praise of our team eventhough they just had a terrible game, to his contant babbling, this man is the exact opposite of past great managers such as Shanks, Paisley, Rafa.

          My earlier example to you best describe our current sorry excuse of a manager.

          Moving on to FSG, they had not cover themselves with glory either with this serial managerial appointment blunders.
          They might say they bow to some of the fans wishes (certainly not mine) in appointing KD, but then proceeded to appoint one after that has exactly 0 titles with 1 season in the top flight, while Rafa of the Istanbul fame and nearly won us the Prem in 08/09 is waiting in the wings.

          Jimmy, seriously, you are slating me for not being “positive”?

          • Jimmy Areabi (Editor) says:

            Nobody is slating anybody (apart from when you attempt to slate writers/fans who leave comments, who may have a positive view on incidents, over various articles and differing topics). Like I’ve said Chan, you have your views and that’s fine. You can criticise the manager if you wish – it just gets a little tiresome (and a little strange) to see the only time you appear is to do such things, and never to offer anything supportive of the team, or players whatsoever – turning even non-related articles back to your gripe. You don’t like the manager, that’s fine. You didn’t like ‘KD’ as you call him, your choice too. You want/ed Rafa back – fair enough, but there are others who have moved on from this. It doesn’t make them any less of a supporter of the football club for trying to get behind the team.
            It is easy to say you backed the previous managers, pre-internet, when we were being truly successful – good on you, not condemning our successful managers…

        • Chan says:

          Jimmy, are you sure nobody else is slating BR or KD? Where have you been the last 2 years?

          I aggee with you that we are all entitle to our own opinion, good or bad. Unlike some, i do not get overly exited by some small little none events. With BR in charge, we always seems to to move 2 steps back for every step forward.

          I read a couple of days ago in this site a fan wrote (not too sure whether a fan of LFC or BR) that how wonderful a man manager BR is. Who is he trying to kid? This “brilliant” man manager got the title for supposedly getting 2 or 3 decent games out of our 20 mill SD. That is not positivity but pure spinning.

          Since you are the editor, you would be the first to know that i am not the only one not taken in by the BR band wagon.

          We deserve someone much better than BR and we deserve this person like yesterday. Sorry if i sounds like a broken record if it takes that to get the message across.

          • Jimmy Areabi (Editor) says:

            Who said nobody else is slating ‘BR’, or ‘KD’? Of course, all manner have their own opinions. My gripe with you, Chan, is that you only ever appear to air your grievances against the manager/s – even in articles which have nothing to do with those topics.
            I’m sure you would agree that it does then sound like a broken record, after two years…and maybe many would be more receptive to your opinion if you hadn’t have given it after just one match (west brom). You may be proved right over Rodgers, who is far from perfect…but it would be interesting to hear your views on other topics from time to time, rather than just turning up to moan about the same thing. I wonder if you have that capacity in you? And like I’ve said to you before in the past mate, with your strong views and your disbelief at what you read in other produced articles, why not send me your efforts for an article to publish? I’m still waiting… 😉

  • anonymous says:

    indeed, if we re getting sneijder, lets do and loan suso 4 more 1st team appearance bt if nt, lets give him a trial, he might b young and lack som experience bt he cud develop more wit more playing tym. I wish BR is reading wat am abt to write nw. I tink is high tym BR accepts his mistak in d signing of Joe Allen dan making d mistak to keep playing him even wen d likes of henderson re in form and nw doin well dan joe wich cud cost hi his head. D guy is nt in his swansea days form and BR still call on him wen der re beta options out der due to d praises he lavished on him @ his acquisition. Gud, every manager cud make a mistak bt admiting it and correctn it makes u a genius cos imagin, d past three games he didn’t start, we won 3 double and a 4-0 totaling 12-0, he was called bak against man u and was porous truout and wen henderson cam in u cud see we won d midfield and dats d only way to beat united. So BR, wake up and ave ur head dan loose it xos of love r a singlt player. He cud keep coming a asubstitude r nw till he finds bak his fom

    • Matt says:

      I will still stick by BR but Allen needs to be dropped, really under performing its frustrating me.

  • Geoff says:

    No way sneijder would come here , and Rodgers wont drop his little pet Allen

  • the answer! says:

    Drop sterling for a good number(4) of games and play suso as close as possible to gerrard and suarez… Suso’s a playmaker, not a winger…Barca and R.Madrid wanted him, I’m almost certain they wouldn’t have put him on the wing! Think top 4

  • Seb says:

    Things are beyond a joke now , how anyone can support the catastrophe that is Brendan Rogers amazes me . Dont results matter to Liverpool FC anymore ?

    • ozred says:

      We support the club. We also recognise that nearly every manager who has gone on to have success has had to endure short term adjustment which reflects on the table.

      No manager could have come in with the squad we’ve got and won us the title. Get that through your heads people. Pep pep pep, mourinho… blablabla. Look at the quality of their squads. It’s miles ahead of where ours is.

      We’ve taken a couple of neccessary steps back this year to the benefit of finding and developing Suso, Sterling, Shelvy and Henderson – all playing the best football of their careers.

      We finally have a second striker who can score goals unlike the big dope number 9 we currently have. Suarez and Enrique in the form of their life, Johnson and Downing playing the best football since they’ve been at Liverpool etc etc etc.

      Whilst i still shake my head about Allen along with other things you take the good with the bad and NEED TO ACCEPT that the squad had been catastrophically mis handled over the last 24 months so time is required to right the wrongs.

      • Gary says:

        You really dont understand football , do you ? Just about everything you say is wrong .Everytime you leave a comment, it makes you look childishly stupid

        Taking ‘neccesary’ steps back ? what rubbish is that ??? No need for any steps back – get a good manager, sign good players and things will improve …… get it ?

        • Gary says:

          More rubbish when you say those 4 have played best under Rodgers . Shelvey had better season last for Liverpool and Blackpool, And didnt Henderson play much better for Sunderland ? Suso and Sterling are in first senior year, but i would expect better anyway

        • Gary says:

          Rodgers has inherited a excellent squad, it has been grossly mis-handled by Rodgers . its fine everyone having diffrent opinions, but yours are just so uneducated its laughable

        • Matt says:

          How can you Rodgers inherited an excellent squad when they finished 8th last season?

      • simon says:

        LOL . do u make this waffle up as u go along ? or do u actually believe the total nonsense u write ?

        you dont know about LFC , u dont know about winning , thats what important . clueless as usual

      • Chan says:

        @Ozred

        So BR had inherited a bad squad but the first thing he did was to pay 15 mill for the hapless Allen and then describe him as some sort of Messi waiting to happen?

        Yes i know there are good and bad but who proactively bring in the bad? Does BR not know we REALLY needed a striker at that time?

      • fotheringham says:

        Ozred you talk rubbish as always . The squad last season underperformed … but was still an top squad full of excellent players , internationals and a plethora of great youth , it won a cup and got to another final

        Like Gary said you dont understand football , try learning about it before spewing nonsense

    • Chan says:

      To some no as both the manager and the owners lost sight of what it is to be LFC.

      Sorry, i take it back,they can’t lose what they don’t have in the first place.

  • Rai Reds says:

    Lets see where all this ends up at the end of the season and them pass judgments

    • simon says:

      why wait one whole season , we have the worst manager in our modern history at the helm but still can salvage the season IF we had a good manager

      Would ANY other club NOT sack their manager , if they were under-performing as we are ?

  • Dickie Rock says:

    Good article again Liam *Toppa*

  • Matt says:

    I just read on goal.com that Liverpool are back in the race to sign Sneijder, should I be excited, is this site trust worthy of information?

  • Keane says:

    Youngsters should play in their proper position to help them settle in . Playing Suso on the wing , and hauling him off after 50 minutes every game is detrimental to the kids progress and confidence

    Apart from Wisdom , i dont think Rodgers has handled the kids well at all . We have an exceptionally talented group of starlets , i believe a better manager would get more out of them

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